I was in Chelsea’s academy and carpooled with Ruben Loftus-Cheek before racing Usain Bolt at Olympics
Most of us could only dream of having a career as a professional sportsperson.
But for British sprinter Adam Gemili, he had the choice between two sporting careers.
The former European 200m champion has been prolific in the world of athletics for more than a decade, also picking up a memorable gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the World Championships in 2017.
That race was also notable for the last in the glittering career of sprint legend Usain Bolt, who was due to run the final leg of the relay before he pulled up injured.
The British team of Gemili, CJ Ujah, Daniel Talbot and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake set a European 4x100m relay record of 37.47 seconds that still stands.
Gemili was then in contention for a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, but suffered heartbreak as he injured his hamstring in the heats - although he still went on to walk over the finish line in a brave display.
Read More Olympics
And while Gemili will not be racing for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Gemili will be part of talkSPORT's all-star commentary line-up for the Games.
The 30-year-old has told talkSPORT that Team GB could be in for an amazing summer of medals, as he mentioned Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Keely Hodgkinson, Josh Kerr and Molly Caudery as some of the ones to watch.
“In terms of track and field, I feel like we've got very good opportunities to get some, not just medals, but gold medals," he admitted.
Gemili is no stranger to the Olympics, having competed at London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
He narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in the 200m at Rio, finishing fourth by six thousandths of a second.
But the sprinter has now explained that despite such a decorated athletics career, running was not always the sport he thought he would end up competing in.
Most read in Olympics
“I was in Chelsea’s academy for eight years," he recalled.
“So my age group, we always used to mix the year above, the year below and the guys that you might remember. So the one who was the most talented person I've ever seen was a midfielder called Josh McEachran.
“He was just honestly levels and levels and levels above everyone.
"My way of playing football was (that) I was very fast. This guy was just operating at his own pace. He controlled the game so slowly. So he was super special.
“Nathaniel Chalobah was the year below, but he's gone on. He went on to do some fantastic things.
“Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who's from Swanley, who's similar age group to me, but he was a few years younger. We used to travel together and it’s great seeing how well he's done.
“He's at Milan now, absolutely smashing it. Just needed a run of clean form, no injuries and look at what he's done.
“There's definitely guys I was playing with that were unbelievable. When I was that age, watching Josh McEachran, I was like, how am I ever going to get to that level?
“He was just so good from such a young age. I think if you ask anyone from his team or my team or from that era, they'd give you the same answer, because he was just fantastic.”
Gemili spent seven years in the academy at Chelsea, and a further year in the youth system at Reading.
He even had a brief senior career in football between 2010 and 2012, signing as a defender for Dagenham and Redbridge and making 12 appearances on-loan with Thurrock in the Ishmian League.
And while Gemili switched to athletics full-time in 2012, he did admit he could have gone on to have an equally successful career as a footballer if he had carried on.
“If I'm honest with you, I think I could have if I'd had the confidence and the physicality that I have now coming from athletics," he told talkSPORT. "I never really had that confidence.
“I was always fast and I was always good on the ball and stuff, but I didn't really ever truly believe how good I could be until I came into athletics. Then I started becoming one of the best sprinters in the world.
“I was thinking, wow, if I had this physicality and confidence to do this in football, I could have really gone to a high level. My dream was always to be a footballer. My dream was always to play in the Champions League or line up for England, listening to the national anthem.
Read More on talkSPORT
“I'm super lucky that I was able to do it in track and field, but football was always my number one love."
Gemili will be part of talkSPORT's all-star line up at the Olympics alongside gold medallists Steve Redgrave, Tessa Sanderson and Kelly Holmes. You can tune in to talkSPORT and talkSPORT 2 via our free online streaming service at talkSPORT.com, DAB digital radio, download the talkSPORT app, or ask your smart speaker to play talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2. talkSPORT is also widely available across the UK on 1089 or 1053 AM.